


Crawling

by InsideTheTardis



Series: Twelve's Chaotic Space Family!Au [9]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fatherhood, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:54:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21797191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsideTheTardis/pseuds/InsideTheTardis
Summary: Something is really wrong with Elyne and the Doctor can't fix that problem by himself. So he needs to find extra help.
Series: Twelve's Chaotic Space Family!Au [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1301651
Comments: 12
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey ! Another story ! Hope you will like it ! Thanks to my beta reader ! <3
> 
> Title is from Crawling by Linkin Park

Elyne sat against a wall in the schoolyard. She felt dizzy since the morning, her head was hurting and she was out of breath for anything. It felt curious. She pulled her cap over her eyes and closed them, she needed rest. 

" Oi ! Elyne !" 

Elyne groaned when she heard Bryan's voice. The taller boy liked to annoy her, he was not physicaly violent but he knew how to hurt her feelings. 

" Go away." Elyne requested. 

" My mommy told the Doctor is doing experiments with you, is that true ?" 

" No, he doesn't."

" Does he even love you ? I mean... he is not your daddy," the boy shrugged, " he did not even adopt you... I think my mommy is right, he's only interested because you are different... like a new toy."

Luckily, their teacher called the children back for class. 

" By the way, it's my birthday tomorrow," Bryan told, giving her an envelope," I'd like you to come." 

Exhausted and stunned by his words, Elyne did not answer and quietly walked back in class.

At the end of the day, Elyne sat with others children, waiting for their parents. She blinked when she saw the Doctor stepping in the room. That was a good surprise since that was Nardole who usually picked her up, the Doctor was often busy lecturing his class. 

The Doctor smiled at her when she walked to him, but the smile quickly vanished when he saw her eyes. Something was wrong. 

" Hey, little one," he scooped her up in his arms, " Are you okay ?" 

Elyne gladly snuggled into his neck, putting her arms around him.

" I feel a bit tired." she mumbled against him. 

The Doctor knew his daughter, he knew she tended to use the fatigue excuse to desguise an emotional injury. 

" What about we go and get a snack ?"

At Mcdonald's, the Doctor opted for a small and quiet table, in a corner. They stayed quiet a moment, Elyne was sipping her hot chocolate while the Doctor was snacking on his burger and some fries. 

" Am I a toy to you ?" Elyne suddenly asked. 

The Doctor nearly choked on his food. 

" What a weird question, Elyne," he coughed, " Why do you think that ?" 

" Bryan's mommy told you are interested to me only because I'm different." 

The Doctor loudly sighed. He met the woman once since she was working at UNIT, and he did not want that to happen again so soon. So much stupidity concentred in one single body, he did not know such a thing existed. 

" You shouldn't listen to what that kid is saying." he grumbled, taking his caramel sundae. 

As he took a bite, he noticed the ache was still in her eyes. 

" Did he tell more ?" 

" He also said you don't love me, because you aren't my daddy."

The Doctor could not help but frown. How a kid could be so cruel ?

" I'm your daddy," he affirmed, " and..." 

He suddenly stopped. He bit his lips nervously and looked around, like a stressed animal. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her but words did not came. He sighed and laid his palm over her cheek, rubbing her temple with his thumb.

" Do you know how precious you are to me ?" 

The Time Lord eyes softened as Elyne nodded and held his hand close to her face, softly rubbing her cheek against his palm. He noticed that her temperature was a bit higher than usual.

" Are you okay ?" he asked. 

" I feel better," she smiled, " but I'm tired .... can we go home please ?"

The next day, the Doctor brought Elyne to that birthday party, at the Dame Emily Park. On the spot, a small groups of children were playing in the playground, under the supervision of some mothers. 

" Doctor !" 

The Doctor tensed as he recognized the voice. 

" Brenda."

He barely smiled at her as she was walking to them. 

" I'm so glad you could come, Elyne." the woman pinched the child's cheek.

" For your kid." The Doctor abruptly intervened and pulled Elyne close to him, handing Brenda a pack. 

He knelt down next to Elyne and adjusted the scarf around her neck. 

" Go and play, I'm looking after you." 

Once Elyne went, he sat on a bench and got comfortable.

" Hum... Doctor ? " Brenda sat next to him, " Elyne felt very warm, maybe you should take her back home ? I don't want her to infect children."

" We won't stay for long," the Doctor said sharply, " I just wanted to have a word with you." 

Brenda blinked when the Doctor put his cold blue eyes on her. 

" Elyne reported me some words of your son," he hissed the last word, " A toy ? What is wrong with you ?" 

Not impressed, the woman stood his glare. 

" We know how you are, Doctor, like a butterfly fluttering from one flower to another..." the woman shrugged, " Elyne is a nice one though, I just hope your interest won't fade so soon." 

That was enough. The Doctor could not hold back the fury who kept rising within him.

" Contrary to what you think, I love my daughter ! " he shouted. 

Everybody looked at them, surprised that he rose his voice so suddenly. The Doctor was surprised as well. He closed his eyes and tried to get his composure back. 

" You and your son, " he clenched his teeth, his voice low and threatening, " stay away from my family."

He suddenly heard Elyne cry and rushed to the playground, where Bryan was already bullying her.

" Do your eyes turn red if I do that ?" the boy chuckled before sending some sand in Elyne's eyes.

" Do you think that's funny ?" the Time Lord scolded. 

When he saw the Doctor, Bryan turned pale and stepped back. 

" We.. We were just playing, Sir." the boy stammered, terrified. 

The Doctor ignored the boy and knelt down next to Elyne, inspecting her eyes, luckily they were okay. 

" Let's go, little one."

He took her hand and they quickly walked away. Still angry, the Doctor ignored everyone around, even after they left the park. He was so lost in thought that he did not notice that Elyne could not keep up with him. 

" Doctor," she called, out of breath, " please, wait for me !" 

The Doctor blinked and stopped. He frowned when he saw her holding on his legs, breathless. That was not normal.

" Is something wrong ? Did that boy hurt you ?" he asked. 

" No." she shook her head.

The Doctor knelt down so she could lean against him.

" I'm sorry you didn't have fun earlier," he softly patted her head, " What about we go somewhere to have fun together ?" 

He gave her a bright smile but the little girl seemed indifferent. Even worse, she broke in tears. The Doctor instantly pulled her into a soft hug and started to rock her, trying to calm her down.

" Don't cry, dear, it's over." he kissed her cheek. 

He pulled back quickly, surprised by her temperature. He laid his palm over her forehead. She was burning. He picked her up and rushed to the university. 

When he finaly reached the TARDIS, he quickly undressed Elyne and laid her down in the med bay. He softly soaked her, putting wet clothes all over her body. But it did nothing at all, her temperature kept rising, drying clothes in a really short time. Elyne started to loose her mind and grew frantic, crying more and more. The Doctor did not know what was happening, he tested her for any infection but all of them were negative. 

" What happened ?" 

Alarmed by the child's cries, Nardole rushed to them and found a helpless Doctor trying to control the agitated child. 

" I don't know yet," the Doctor told, picking Elyne up, " I need you to make a bath." 

To the bathroom, the TARDIS setted a small tub for the little girl. While Nardole ran water in, the Doctor tried to calm Elyne down. She was still yelling and moving in his arms, the Doctor winced as she hammered his stomach with her feets. 

" Ouch ! Elyne, dear," he clenched his teeth in pain and held her closer to him, blocking her legs, " It'll be better, calm down." 

" Daddy, please ! " she sobbed, " Help me ! "

When the Doctor was happy with the water's temperature, he knelt down and slowly immersed Elyne in the bath. He took his jacket away and pulled his shirt's sleeves, pouring some water over her head. Gradually, Elyne's sobs turned into sniffles. She weakly crawled closer to her father and held on his waistcoat.

" Daddy, it hurts." she cried into his chest.

He blinked. Daddy ? Since Father's Day, she sometimes called him like this, when she was scared or in pain. 

" I know," he whispered, hugging her head against his chest, " It'll be okay, I'll promise." 

He really hoped it will be though. He kept pouring water over, but she was still burning hot. Even for someone of her kind, her temperature was too high. 

" Should I bring an antipyretic ?" Nardole proposed. 

" That would be useless, her body's temperature set point remains unchanged," the Doctor sighed, " It looks like her metabolism can't cope with her natural temperature."

The Doctor stayed like this for long moment, pouring water over her and stroking her head softly. Slowly, Elyne calmed down, leaning against his touch. Then the Doctor laid his palm over her forehead, she felt a bit cooler. He sighed, relieved.

" Time for some sleep." he whispered, gently pulling her from water.

She was like a doll in his arms, not moving at all. He felt her breath into his neck, it was short and laborious. 

" Daddy..." she mumbled. 

" Daddy's here," he nuzzled his nose into her hairs, " I'm here." 

Once he put her in bed, the Doctor tried to find some information, in the books, the TARDIS' data base.... He found nothing that could help in that case. Being part human, it looked like something was missing in Elyne's body to balance her temperature. He just did not know what. 

He was pulled from his thoughts when the TARDIS console's alarm rang. 

" What ?" he jumped, " What is it ?" 

His eyes widened as he saw the screen and he ran to Elyne's room. 

" Elyne ! " he called, rushing at her side.

The child did not react at all. Without touching her, the Doctor could feel the heat radiating from her body. He checked on her pulse, it was weak and irregular. 

That was not good, her organs started to suffer from hyperthermia. 

" Hey, Elyne, " he took her in his arms, " Elyne, wake up." 

He still had no reaction, panick started to take over him. He rushed back to the the console room, slightly bouncing to wake her up.

" Elyne, please," he whispered into her ear, " wake up, please, sweetheart." 

He held her close in his shaking arms, he could hear her heart's sounds getting weaker and weaker. He walked up and down around the console, begging her to open her eyes. 

What do to ? What to do ? What to do ?

He tried everything in his power, but it changed nothing. 

" You won't die," he promised, pulling the TARDIS' lever, " I refuse it !"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally an update for that story ! Yay ! Hope you'll like it !

The doctor Kalama Dozoko was a middle aged igneos. She had bright orange eyes, with some red reflections, her hairs were dark brown with some silver hairs and she was about 4'2 tall. The average height for females.

That night, Kalama came back from a busy day and all she needed was reading a book in a warm comfy chair. She got comfortable and let out a sigh, content.

After some minutes, she suddenly heard a soft humming, then the room's walls began to shake as hums turned into roars.

Kalama smiled when she saw the TARDIS materializing.

" It's been a long time, Doctor." she sighed softly.

She got up to greet her friend but for her surprise, the man who came out of the box did not look like the Doctor she knew. His scent remained the same though. What was even more surprising was the child he was holding.

" Kalama ! " he called, " Please, help me ! "

Oh. The Doctor was begging for help, that was exceptionnal.

" What is wrong with her ?" she asked, talking Elyne from the Doctor's arms.

Feeling the child's temperature, Kalama softly opened her eyelids, showing her bright amber iris.

" She's partly human," the Doctor informed her, " and her temperature keeps growing ! "

Partly human ? That was nearly impossible, but that was not the most important for now.

" Does she have a prescutum ?" she asked.

The Doctor blinked at the woman. What the hell was that question.

" How could I know ?" he almost barked.

" Ok, TARDIS now, " she hurried toward the ship, " we need extra help, as quick as possible."

The Doctor landed the TARDIS to the hospital's corridors, where Kalama asked him to go. Still holding Elyne, Kalama rushed through the hospital. The Doctor followed her, trying to not knock his head anywhere. Ceilings were much lower on that planet.

" I need help ! " Kalama called, " We need a cooling over here !"

The Doctor watched Elyne disappearing with Kalama in a room. He wanted to follow but he was stopped by a small man.

" Please, wait here." he requested and closed the door.

The Doctor did not retorted, he just stood there, helpless. After a moment, he grew impatient, pacing up and down in the corridor.

" Doctor ?" Kalama called.

The Doctor rushed to her, trying to watch in the room, but Kalama closed the door behind her.

" That was close," she sighed, " but she'll make it."

The Doctor loudly sighed, feeling a weight leaving his shoulder.

" Her body doesn't create a specific hormon that protect organs from hyperthermia's effect." she explained.

" Prescutum ?"

" Yes... In exceptionnal cases, some igneoses don't have that organ, so we have to deliver daily hormons doses via injections... I don't know what effect it'd have on that child though."

She paused.

" Partly human ? How ?"

" I'm as clueless as you are," the Doctor rose his eyebrows, tilting his head, " I just know her mother was human."

" It's a miracle that she's alive."

" Can I see her ?"

" Not yet," seeing the frustration in the Doctor's eyes, she quickly carried on, " We have to pause her metabolism, in order to avoid further damages, you wouldn't like seeing her like this. We will warm her up again in some hours."

" Let me see her ! " he shouted.

He stopped when he saw Kalama's surprised look. He grunted and walked away, pacing up and down again. He looked like a distressed lion in a cage.

" Doctor." Kalama softly called him.

She walked to him and softly wrapped her arms around the Time Lord's waist. She felt him tense but he did not try to escape.

" You have a panic attack, breath with me." she instructed.

She started to inhale slowly and deeply through the nose.

" Good, breath with the belly." she exhaled through her mouth.

After some minutes, she felt him relaxing. Then she felt a pair of arm wrapped around her shoulders, before pushing her back softly.

" I'm sorry," he whispered, then he gave her a wee smile, " and I'm glad to see you."

" I'm glad you stopped wearing those question marks pullovers," she laughed softly, " what about we get some tea and you explain me the whole story ?"

The Doctor softly smiled and nodded, following his friend.

Nurses walked in and out for hours in Elyne's room, checking on her. The small child was asleep in a bed, linked to a tube that slown her metabolism down to let her heart rest. An oxygen mask helped her to breath, her breathing was slow but constant.

" She reminds me someone." a red haired nurse said, putting her finger under Elyne's chin to see her face better.

" She smells like General Akilan." her colleague added.

Both women looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

" Let's make some DNA test." said the red haired one, pushing a needle into Elyne's arm.

After some hours, as Kalama promised, nurses disconnected Elyne from the machine. She slowly woke up as her metabolism started to run again. Her sight was blurry, all she could see was the white ceiling. After a short moment, she could feel her body again, and it hurt. A lot. Each of her muscles was burning and she felt like an elephant sat over her chest, breathing was painful. She noticed she was not in her room or in the TARDIS med bay. Then she saw medical material and the nurse. Remembering her traumatic past, she started to panick.

" Hey, it's ok," the nurse tried to comfort her, " Everything is alright."

" Where's Daddy ?" Elyne cried under the oxygen mask.

She looked around, looking for the Doctor, but he was nowhere in sight. Which made her panick even more, the monitoring's sounds getting quicker and louder.

" Please, I want my daddy." she begged, rubbing her teary eyes.

" What's going on here ?" Kalama asked.

The Doctor stood behind her, looking for Elyne. When he met her eyes, the child held out her arms to him, panicked. Seeing her awake was a relief, but it broke his hearts to see her in such a sad state. He hurried at her side and pulled her into a protective hug.

" Daddy !" she sobbed.

" I'm here," he whispered, softly wiping her tears away with his thumb, " Daddy's here."

He worried when he heard her weak and rambling heartbeat. He sat down on the bed and carefully pulled Elyne on his lap, holding her like a baby. He frowned when Elyne tried to pull the oxygen mask away.

" No," he gently scolded her, putting the mask back on her face, " don't touch that."

The little girl grumbled a bit, but she did not argue. She got comfortable into her father's arms and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest. Rocked by the Time Lord's heartbeats, she started to relax and looked around. She blushed a bit when she noticed that Kalama and the nurse were looking at her, then a detail caught her attention.

" Our eyes are the same !" she exclaimed.

Kalama laughed softly and knelt down to reach her eyes level.

" I think your eyes are way more beautiful." she smiled.

" Are you like me ?" Elyne asked.

The Doctor quickly explained to Kalama that he did not exactly told Elyne about her origins. Kalama looked up at the Doctor who softly nodded at her.

" Yes, I am," she affirmed, " I'm Kalama, one of your daddy's friend."

Kalama smiled as Elyne softly stroke her cheek.

" How do you feel, Elyne ? "

" I'm cold," she mumbled, " and my chest hurts."

" You'll feel better soon," she promised, " try to sleep a bit more, alright ?"

The Doctor tenderly smiled as Elyne yawned and curled into a ball in his arms, falling asleep in peace.

" Is her heart failure reversible ?" he finally asked.

" We can't tell yet," Kalama sighed, sorry, " not until she gets injections."

" Okay." he whispered.

He tightened his hold on Elyne, staring down at her. He felt dejected and exhausted, he could feel tears coming up to his eyes.

Kalama stepped back quietly, both needed some rest and privacy. She turned the lights off and left the room.

" Doctor Dozoko ?"

She closed the door and looked up at the man standing in front of her.

" Can I help you, General Akilan ?"

The man handed her blood exams results and added.

" I'm here for my daughter."


End file.
